Shuffle-Song Challenge
by Lovissa
Summary: I'm sorry I can't find a catchy title. Basically, it's a collection of short stories inspired by songs I listen to as I write. The 'write-while-the-song-last-and-stop-when-the-music-stop' type of stories. Stop by if you find this interesting. Disclaimer: I own nothing in this collection; the characters and the songs belong to their respective creators.


I read an interesting fict sometime ago. It consisted of numerous prompts, written according to a song the writer listened to. Shuffle-song challenge, that was what I called it. The rules were like this: You put your playslist on a shuffle and then write a story based on the song you were listening to. Stop writing when the music stop. I don't know if you could skip on a song you don't understand what the lyric is about, but I think you shouldn't. I forgot what the title was and I couldn't mark it as a favorite as I read the story when ffn was blocked in my country.

Then one day, I got bored. I wanted to write something, a story. But I wasn't in a mood of writing anything lengthy. That's when I remembered the challenge and I decided to give it a try.

Enjoy the ride.

* * *

1\. – _Naru_

Mai loved to dance, he knew, as well as Madoka and Yasuhara. He knew the three of them went clubbing regularly, once a month. What was unusual with their outing this time, they had managed to drag himself and Lin with them—to get special discount on couple night or something. Mai had used her 'puppy eyes' to drag him with her and, as he exchanged sour look with his assistant, Lin was not immuned with Madoka's as well. And seeing how Mai's puppy eyes now gave him enough force to obey her invitation into the dancing floor, he knew it was time to distance Mai from the two trouble makers.

 _Shut Up and Dance With Me- Walk The Moon_

2\. – _Naru_

He never thought him falling in love was a possible scenario. He knew he probably ended up alone for his whole life and he was alright with that—a fact that was upsetting his mother who apparently still hadn't give up on wishing for grand children. Romantic feeling between man and woman was an alien concept for him and despite his annoying twin constant whinning about how much loss he would have if he refused to allow himself to fall into Love embrace, he didn't heed him.

But when he watched Mai walked in the aisle, clad in a white gown, and smiled at him, for the first time in his life, he thought his twin might be right.

 _Unbelievable- Craig David_

 _3\. -Mai_

Her friends asked her why she remained in this business, ghost hunting business. She got hurt a lot and more than once she had face life-treathening dangers. She was still young, so why wouldn't she settle for a more peacefull and dangerless job? To them she said she needed the money because the pay was good and she liked the thrill. To those who knew about her power, she said this was the reason why she had the power—to help people in need.

But to herself, she knew the reason why she settled down was because this was her only tie to _him._

She had been broken hearted when he left. She had tried to move on—she had _every_ reason to move on—but she couldn't. Not when everything she did, everything she saw, everything she though of always led her back to him. That was why she stayed. So someday, they would meet again.

And she knew they would.

 _Only Reminds Me of You- MYMP_

4\. – _Mai_

When they met again, Mai noticed there were no change in their relationship. He was still the most (handsome) annoying intelegent pompous jerk she ever knew. His habit of giving out snide remarks instead of straight compliments never changed as well. Their habbit of quarelling even for the most silly thing was still going on daily basis. The only difference was, Mai didn't feel the butterfly anymore.

She thought she was finally moved on. That they had return into friends—if they were ever be in the first place. That was until she noticed the subtle change in him. He was more open to her: open kindness, open about his feeling—she could almost always read him like an open book, though it didn't mean he became expressive like her. And the biggest change? He let her in. Into his circle.

And that's when she realised she was fallin' all over for him, again.

 _I Think I'm In Love Again- Kat Dahlia_

5\. – _Naru_

Naru couldn't sleep.

He tossed his book away when for the nth-time Mai's teary and angry eyes showed up in his mind. He had a fight with Mai earlier that day—all because Mai was behaving like an idiot. The fight ended with Mai storming out of their house and he knew she would be back in a few hours.

But something was different this time.

Something told him she wasn't going to spend just a mere couple hours outside. She might not back for the entire night and the thought upset him. He didn't want to admit it but he couldn't get any sleep until he knew she was safe. And safe meant she was right here, in his house, back in his arms.

Naru sighed. He hated wasting time. _If he couldn't do anything productive today…_

He grabbed his coat and his car keys.

 _Insomnia- Craig David_

6\. – _Mai_

She was an easily distracted person, she knew. But her short span of attention seemed to shorten even more when he was around. He occupy most of her mind everytime and when he was by her side, he took all of them. All she thought about, all she saw, all.. all her senses caught was him.

All that matter was him.

He was her center of the world.

 _You and Me- Lifehouse_

7\. – _Mai_

The memory of that day still hurt.

He wasn't her first crush but she knew, he was her first love. That was why when she was left, broken hearted, it hurt in the way she never experienced before. But what hurt her the most wasn't the misunderstanding they had.

It was the fact that she couldn't hold the longing she had for him.

She missed him. Dearly.

There had been no contact ever since he left. She thought there would be never. She knew he wasn't the type that would call just to stay hello. Or maybe, the reason he never called was because Japan was a place that hold only pain for him. It was the place where he lost his brother after all.

She wished she had been more persistent that day. He had give her their photo—the twins when they were younger—when he left. Maybe he would gave her his contact info if she had asked?

 _Love changed you. It didn't matter if it stayed or left._

Mai curled into her blanket, the memory she saw in her dream flashed. Somewhere in her heart ached.

She hoped she had asked.

 _Slipped Away- Avril Lavigne_

8\. – _Mai_

There were times when Mai couldn't sleep and in those times, she always be reminded of her mother.

Back when she was little, she used to had nightmare. So often that at one point, sleeping became a difficult task for her. She had tried to hide it from her mother, afraid it would worry her since mostly she was away on night shift, but eventually she found out. The next day when Mai back from school, her mother gave her a casette. _'It's an amulet. From me.'_ Her mother said as she pat her head and smiled gently.

Mai had no idea her mother could sing.

She listened to it everyday, even after her nightmare stopped all together. The song filled her heart with warmth—it became her light against the darkness.

The casette was lost the day she moved out after her mother passed away. It didn't matter, she remembered it by heart. And when the time came when she couldn't sleep again..

She opened her mouth and a gentle lovely song filled the room.

 _Sleepsong- Secret Garden_

9\. – _Mai_

Mai had no idea that long distance relationship could be this hard.

The brunette looked up to the stars as she lied down on the grass. Did he see the same stars as well, in London?

Almost instantly, she could hear his reply.

Since _obviously we live in the opposite part of Earth, it's unlikely we are looking on the same stars. Hypotethically speaking London's autumn sky is clear enough for star sighting._

Mai chuckled. Yeah, he probably would say that.

Australia was a lovely country. She had enjoyed her stay and her study. But never been she had feel this lonely before. She couldn't wait to come home. Soon.

 _All of The Stars- Ed Sheeran_

10\. – _Gene_

Nobody's perfect. He knew.

No matter how careful they acted, no matter how many countermeasure were taken, humans were prone to mistakes. Mostly, most of them didn't realize it until it was too late.

His brother, the perfect-planner Noll, was no exception. Though Noll could proudly said he rarely made mistakes, when he did however, it always one that dealt a big damage.

Like when he let her go.

Gene sighed. He could have prevented it, if only he wasn't stuck in this annoying realm. Had he able to talk with his idiot twins, this silly understanding would never happen. If only he had enough energy to materialize, maybe he could (literally) smack some sense of reality to his brother.

The older twin almost went on face palm when the memory of Mai's confession seeped into his mind. How in the world he thought that poor sweet girl was falling in love with a _ghost_?

He knew he had to set this right. He knew what hold him back from reaching the end; he was waiting until the day he saw Noll caught his happiness. Letting Mai go caused him pain—and that was a good news. A sign that he felt attraction to her.

Gene wasn't just going to sit around and watch his little brother suffer. After all, mending their brothers mistake was a job for every older brother, no?

 _Let Her Go- Passenger_

* * *

GOD! It was harder than I expected! And I should have know it. My playlist was composed mainly by instrumental and classical music—how am I supposed to _write_ with that? TT_TT

That means I cheated a bit. The rule was 'to write a fict according to the song showed up in your playlist' and I've failed. I skipped LOTS of songs. Honestly, I have no idea how to write fiction with instrumental song. Should I write a story based on my emotion caused by the music or what?

But it was fun. I hope you can enjoy the stories as well. I'm sorry if the characters came out OOC but believe me, I tried. Given that I had only 3-5 minutes to come up with a story, in whose POV, and then type it, it was the best I could do. I only proofread it afterwards and give corrections on the grammars and words. I know it probably not perfect; English isn't my first language and I'm not a fluent speaker. If you find anything wrong, please kindly show it to me. I would be happy to learn.

My only regret was my lack of ability failed to bring out the fluttering feeling I had when I heard a song by Lifehouse, You and Me. I love that song. It was sweet, romantic, and supposed to be a great story had I not distracted by the song and its melody the entire time—hence, the short story. At least I still remember to write what I had in mind when I heard the first note: _He was her center of the world_. Because for me that's what the story about. How time passed slowly that you lost track of it because he occupy all of your mind. That all that matter is him.

If you haven't hear the song, give it a chance.

You may find some of the story didn't match with the song. If it does happen, please note that I only have 3-5 minutes as what I've stated above. I will try to come up with better story next time.

I do notice how this part is entirely Naru-Mai centric. I don't know.. maybe because I spent most of my free time daydreaming about them? Hopefully I can write about the other characters on the way.

I'll write other prompts as soon as I can. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Thank you for reading,

Lovissa


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